Category: Desserts

I made a batch of these chocolate truffles at Christmas and they went down such a treat I thought it was finally time to share. The most challenging part of this recipe is pateince. I suggest making them the night before so you don’t spend half your day running to the fridge to see if they’ve set (that’s how my afternoon would be spent anyway!)

Bonus of this recipe is that there is no added sugar, apart from what is in the chocolate already, I don’t think they need anymore than that. You can make these with regular cream if that’s your jam but the coconut milk works really well here and means that you cover most dietary restrictions. I’ve used orange zest to flavour the milk but you can really use whatever you fancy, vanilla, cinnamon, cardamom the list goes on. As for the booze, go wild with your favourite liqueur.

Pour the coconut milk and orange peel into a heavy based saucepan and set over a medium heat. Bring the mixture up to a simmer, don’t let it boil, and then remove from the heat, setting aside for 10-15 minutes to allow the orange flavour to infuse.

Chop the chocolate into fine pieces, the smaller the better, and place into a mixing bowl.

Once the coconut milk has had it’s 15 minutes remove the orange peel from it and discard.

Place the coconut milk back on the heat and bring back to a simmer.

Pour the hot coconut milk over chopped chocolate and stir until all the the chocolate is melted and you have a silky mixture.

Now add in the salt and booze, stir to combine.

Allow the mixture to come to room temperature before placing in the fridge overnight of for at least 3 hours to set.

Once completely set and chilled remove the mixture from the fridge.

Take small amounts of the truffle mixture, around 10-15g, and roll into balls using the palm of your hands.

Toss the truffle in your choice of coating and place on a tray. Continue to do this with the rest of the mixture.

Place the truffles back in the fridge to allow them to firm up before serving.

These can easily stay a week in the fridge or you can pop them in the freezer and remove a couple of hours before you want to serve.

I couldn’t decide if I should call this bread, cake or brownie. All I know is it’s fudgey, delicious and you need it in your life.

I’m always intrigued by new ingredients and working in the field that I do I always try to experiment a bit to cater for all. I found coconut flour in the supermarket and decided to give it another whirl in baking. I had tried it before and the results were awful. Although it may seem like only a small amount in this recipe it soaks up so much moisture that a little really does go a long way.

This is best served warm either on it’s own or with big dollop of yoghurt (chocolate coconut yoghurt if you want to keep the theme going!)

Double Chocolate Banana Bread

Ingredients:

3 Medium Ripe Bananas, mashed

4 Large Eggs

50g (¼ Cup) Dairy Free Margarine or Coconut Oil, melted

2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract

50g (¼ cup) Soft Brown Sugar

25g (3 tablespoons) Coconut Flour

60g (¾ Cup) 100% Cacao Powder

¼ teaspoon of Salt

75g (½ cup)Dark Chocolate, chopped into chunks

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180 ℃

Grease and line a loaf tin with baking parchment.

Separate the eggs. Place the whites in one large mixing bowl and the yolks into another mixing bowl. Set the bowl of whites to the side for the time being.

It’s no secret that I am beyond obsessed with oats. They’re so versatile and go far beyond their use at the breakfast table, though there they will remain a staple. To showcase their use in sweet treats I present to you these soft bake cookies spiked with dried cranberries, orange zest and cinnamon, a delicious afternoon pick me up. Best served warm from the oven with a big mug of coffee, though I’m sure my Dad would suggest sandwiching them around a scoop of vanilla ice cream. He might be onto something there you know.

I’ve made these using dairy free margarine and flax egg but you can easily use softened butter and egg if that’s what you have to hand. The mixture is really sticky so the chilling process is essential to be able to roll them into cookies- patience is key.

Soft Bake Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies (Makes 10 cookies)

Ingredients

125g Dairy Free Margarine, at room temperature

100g Soft Brown Sugar

1 x Flax Egg

1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

100g Oats

100g Wholemeal Flour

½ teaspoon Baking Soda

¼ teaspoon of Salt

1 teaspoon of Orange Zest (zest of approximately ½ and orange)

1 teaspoon of Cinnamon

75g Dried Cranberries

Method

Make the flax egg- place the ground flaxseed in a bowl with 3 tablespoons of water. Set aside for 15 minutes to form a gel.

Put the margarine into a mixing bowl and beat around with a wooden spoon until it is soft and fluffy.

This is my other half’s favourite cake which ,of all the cakes possible, I always thought was rather disappointing. That said it’s become a staple in our household as an “everyday cake”. We almost always have the ingredients to hand so in a cake emergency this is my go to. I decided it was time to make a plant based version replacing regular yogurt with soya yogurt and eggs with even more soya yogurt! The result is a deliciously moist cake which we’ve decided almost tastes like doughnuts ,in a really good way. You can jazz it up in anyway you fancy once you keep the basic ratio of flour, yogurt, sugar and oil the same.

You could easily make this cake with no fruit but I just think it takes it to next level deliciousness. Here I’ve used plums but I’ve also made it with raspberries, blueberries and cherries, all equally moreish. Use whatever you have going, frozen fruit works great too!

This is honestly one of the easiest cakes to make and I urge you to give it a go.

Yogurt Cake (Serves 6-8)

Ingredients

1 Cup of Soya Yogurt

½ cup of Sugar

1 teaspoon of Vanilla Extract

Zest of ½ Lemon

¼ cup of Sunflower Oil, you can use any oil here with a mild flavour

1 ½ cups of Flour

1 teaspoon of Baking Powder

Fruit of choice- approximately 1 cup of berries or 4 plums or other stone fruit, sliced in half.

There’s nothing that delivers the taste of autumn quite like an apple crumble. Crumble is probably one of my favourite desserts. I neglect it really, thinking maybe it’s too simple, but there’s never any complaints when I serve one up. I just love when the fruit bubbles up around the edges making the crumble topping tacky and just oh so delicious.

There are so many ways you can make a crumble topping be it with oats, flour or ground almonds. This is my version which you probably won’t be shocked to see is made from my favourite grain-oats. I add plenty of spices in to give it some warmth and extra comfort.

The final debate with a crumble- what do you serve it with? As kids we would usually have fresh pouring cream. If we were getting fancy we may have had custard. Both of these are utterly delicious however in recent years I have come to the discover the joys of cold ice cream on hot crumble and it is by far my favourite combination.

I serve mine with Alpro Vanilla ice-cream, which taste unbelievable and just like the real thing ,not a word of a lie.

Apple Crumble (serves 6)

Ingredients

1kg of Apples, peeled, cored and chopped into 1cm cubes

Zest of 1 x Lemon

Juice of ½ Lemon

200g of Oats

100g Vegan Spread, I used Flora

65g of Brown Sugar

1 teaspoon of Cinnamon

½ teaspoon of Ground Ginger

¼ teaspoon of Ground Nutmeg

¼ teaspoon of Salt

Method

Preheat the oven to 180℃

Place the chopped apples into a large baking dish and add in the lemon zest and lemon juice. Toss everything together until all of the apple is coated, this will stop them turning brown whilst you get on with the topping.

Melt the spread and set aside to cool

Take ½ the oats and place in a food processor. Blitz the oats until they form a flour.

Add the oat flour, remaining oats, sugar, spices and salt into a large mixing bowl. Stir to combine.

Now pour over the melted spread. Stir through until everything is combined and you have a flapjack like mixture.

Pour the crumble topping over the apples, spreading evenly.

Place the crumble in the oven for 40 minutes. You may need to cover with foil halfway through to prevent burning.

You’ll know it’s cooked when the apples are soft and the crumble is nice and golden.

Once cooked remove from the oven and allow to cool for a few minutes before serving.

Banana bread was one of the first things I remember baking all by myself (That and chocolate chip cookies, gosh they were good too). I used to bake it a lot (A LOT) and It’s still one of my favourite treats to rustle up. It’s also one of the easiest things to bake so there is an excuse for a bad loaf .

You might be wondering if the original recipe I used is so good then why change it? Well, I work with a lot of clients with food allergies. Genuine food allergies, often multiple. This can be incredibly difficult to manage particularly in children. Though the range of products available in the supermarkets is getting much better, they can come with a heavy price tag. So, I’ve set myself a mission to come up with some easy, delicious and low cost recipes that the whole family can enjoy, allergies or not.

This is also a great option if you are watching the waistline with it being free of added fat and lower in free sugars then your standard recipe. This does not mean eat it by the bucket load (though trust me you’ll want too). Like all sweet treats enjoy in moderation as part of a healthy balanced diet.

This recipe is dairy free, egg free, nut free and vegan (provided you don’t use honey)

Wholewheat Banana Bread

Ingredients:

⅓ Cup Apple Sauce (Homemade or Shop bought)

¼ Cup Brown Sugar/ Honey/ Maple Syrup (40g)

¼ Cup Unsweetened Oat Milk (You can use any plant based or dairy milk)

2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract

3 very ripe medium Bananas, mashed

2 tablespoons of Milled Flaxseeds

6 tablespoons of Water

1 ¾ Cups Wholewheat Flour

1 teaspoon of Baking Soda

½ teaspoon Salt

½ teaspoon of Cinnamon

Method:

Preheat the oven to 165℃

Grease a 2 litre loaf tin with vegetable oil and line with baking parchment.

Mix the milled flaxseeds and water together and set aside to form a gel- approximately 15 minutes.

I’m a nut butter addict, it’s no secret. If I see a new nut butter on the shelves I have to have it, regardless of how many half eaten jars there are in my cupboard. I’d never really thought about making my own nut butter. I thought why bother when I can buy perfectly good peanut butter from the supermarket. Enter the influence of social media, I saw so many people making their own I just had to see what all the fuss was about. The great thing about making your own is you can really jazz up the flavours as much as you want, and I love jazzy flavours.

Every time we go to the supermarket we buy bags of nuts and ultimately we end up with lots of half eaten bags. I wanted to use up what we had and thus Brazil and Cashew Butter was born. You could of course keep this raw and not roast the nuts at all, but roasting the nuts gives the nut butter a much more intense flavour which I personally prefer.

Cashew, Brazil and Vanilla Butter ( Makes 2 x 200ml Jars)

Ingredients:

2 cups of Cashew Nuts

1 cup of Brazil Nuts

1 Vanilla Pod, or equivalent of extract or paste, chopped into pieces

½ teaspoon of Sea Salt Flakes

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180℃

Toss the nuts onto a baking tray and spread out evenly.

Place the nuts into the preheated oven for 8-10 minutes until they turn slightly golden, keep a close eye on them as they can easily burn.

Once roasted remove from the oven and allow to cool.

When the nuts are cool place them in a food processor along with the vanilla pod and sea salt. Blend until a nut butter forms. This can take anywhere from 5-20 minutes depending on your blender. If it gets a bit stuck you can always add in some oil to help it along but I find cashews and brazil nuts blend quite easily.

Pour the nut butter into jars and hide in a deep dark cupboard to stop yourself eating the whole batch.

If you want to make this sweeter you can always add in some honey, maple syrup or other sweetener to taste. I like it just as it is 🙂

I used to only ever have tahini with savoury foods- the usual suspects of hummus and baba ganoush. However,more recently I’ve been lobbing it onto just about anything, sweet food included. I don’t know what happened, if it was subliminal messaging or what but I just got a hankering for the stuff one day and decided to go with it. The bitterness of the tahini pairs so well with anything sweet, particularly fruit (fresh or dried), but it’s even better with honey.

I decided to keep things plant based and pretty simple here. The addition of rose water gives a little something extra but be VERY careful you don’t add too much. Otherwise you’ll end up with soap flavoured fudge on your hands. Now I don’t like waste but even I wouldn’t eat that.

Yes it’s plant based but it’s still high in fat and high in sugar, full disclosure here. As with any sweet treat “free from” or not portion control will keep you right. Though I will admot it’s hard with these little fellows.

Place all the ingredients, except the rosewater, into a heavy based saucepan. Put the pan over a low flame on the hob and let everything melt together.

Once everything is melted and combined, add in your rosewater. Start with a drop or two and then increase to your own taste.

Pour the fudge mixture into a loaf tin into the loaf tin, sprinkle on some additional sea salt and optional rose petals.

Put the fudge in the fridge and allow to chill for at least and hour until it’s set enough for you to slice.

This fudge doesn’t like heat so try not to over handle it or leave it sitting at room temperature too long. II urge you to make this, such a tasty little treat to have waiting in the fridge, all made with minimal effort.

I said I would come at you with some more rhubarb recipes. I also said I couldn’t resist making a crumble, so rhubarb crumble was an obvious choice. Fruit crumbles are one of my favourite ways to use up the gluts of summer fruit. I love love love a good crumble and rhubarb is one of my favourite fillings, giving the perfect tang to the sweet crumble topping. Here I’ve made a crumble topping using oats, not for any particular reason other than once again I didn’t have any flour in the house. Mixed with crunchy hazelnuts it’s the perfect topping in my eyes.

You might be alarmed when you read the recipe and see both butter and sugar there. Surely these aren’t “healthy”. Realistically though had I used honey and coconut oil the overall nutritional profile of this dish would be very similar. If you want to use either of those for taste great, go ahead but don’t fool yourself by thinking this makes it anyway superior in nutrients Sometimes you have to have a little of the good stuff to keep you sane. So take a breath, go buy some caster sugar and come to the dark side.

Rhubarb and Hazelnut Crumble

Ingredients

800g Rhubarb

¼ Cup (50g) Caster Sugar

1 Cup (100g) of Oats

¾ Cup (100g) Hazelnuts

¼ Cup (50g) Sugar

2 Tablespoons (50g) Unsalted Butter, straight from the fridge and cut into cubes

¼ Teaspoon of Cinnamon

Method

Preheat the oven to 180℃

Chop the Rhubarb in ½ inch long pieces and place into your dish of choice, I use a 23cm ceramic pie dish.

Sprinkle over the sugar (¼ cup).

Add the oats to a food processor and blitz until they form a flour. Now add in the hazelnuts,sugar and cinnamon and pulse until the hazelnuts have broken down into small chunks.

Add in the cubes of butter to the food processor and pulse until the mixture forms a small to medium crumb. Be careful not to over mix it, a few pulses should do the trick.

Pour the crumble mixture over the rhubarb spreading evenly over the top.

Place the crumble in the oven for 35-40 minutes. The crumble will be done when the fruit is soft and the crumble is nice and golden

Serve warm with a scoop of ice cream of some comforting custard. Delicious!

I came home from work the other day to be greeted with a rather large box of home grown rhubarb. We haven’t been very successful in growing our own. Possibly as we bought the plant in a reduced item sale and it was pretty much dead when we planted it. Anyway, there are two things I will always make with rhubarb, compote and crumble. It being mid week when I received my gift I had little time to be waiting on a crumble in the oven so compote it was. You could easily turn my peach crumble into a rhubarb crumble, that is definitely on the cards this weekend.

Compote couldn’t be easier to make, a bit of chopping and that’s all the effort required. I made a huge batch of compote during the week and have been enjoying it with oats, yoghurt and (even better) ice cream.

Rhubarb Compote

Ingredients:

800g of Rhubarb, chopped into 1 inch size pieces

1 Vanilla Pod, or equivilant of vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste

3 tablespoon of Honey

Method:

Place the rhubarb into a medium size saucepan along with the honey.

Split the vanilla pod lengthways, scrape out the seeds add these plus the leftover pod into the rhubarb.

Place the saucepan over a low heat cover with a lid and allow the rhubarb to cook away for 15-20 minutes, stirring regularly. If the rhubarb isn’t releasing much liquid just add in one tablespoon of water.

Once the rhubarb is lovely and soft remove from the heat and allow to cool before serving.